In Greenland, the locals—a people who today number just 56,000 souls—keep alive a myth that feels more relevant than ever. They say that the ice and the animals were created from the severed fingers of the Mother of the Sea. For them, nature is not a resource to be exploited, but a part of herself; she feels pain for it as a mother feels pain for her children.
By:Fragkiska Megaloudi
But the Mother suffers for every human mistake. When our greed pollutes the land, her hair becomes dirty and entangles the animals, bringing disease and famine. The only way for balance to be restored is for us to cleanse her hair and ask for forgiveness. I visited Greenland before it became a “headline” of the climate crisis, and the question that haunted me then—as it does now—remains the same: Is there still time for forgiveness?
A Beauty Hanging by Fragile Threads
My first impression of the island was overwhelming. Pure white ice stretched all the way to the horizon—some blocks cut with near-geometric precision, others lace-like, plunging into crystalline waters beneath the golden light of the Arctic sun. The water, a translucent pale blue at the edges of the ice, transformed into a deep, dark blue under their imposing shadow.
Within these bodies of ice lie thousands of years of history and secrets inextricably linked to the survival of our species. For centuries, life here evolved around the sea, following the cycles of the ice, hunting, fishing, and the breeding of the famous Greenland dogs—a breed with a history spanning 4,000 years.
When the Ice Changes, Life Changes
When the ice melts, it is not only the landscape that changes—it is the very structure of human survival. Since the early 2000s, Greenland has been losing an average of 250–280 gigatonnes of ice per year. This loss is not merely a statistic in a scientific study; it is the rise in sea levels that threatens the entire planet.
In Greenland itself, warming waters have brought economic devastation to small-scale fishermen. Their small boats can no longer venture into open waters, as icebergs break off and overturn their vessels. Traditional fishing is disappearing, replaced by industrial giants such as Royal Greenland. Today, 95% of the catch is exported, forcing once-proud fishermen to work as warehouse employees.
The Secrets Revealed by the Melt
Greenland has returned to the spotlight not only because of the environment, but because the melting ice is revealing centuries-old secrets—from ancient ecosystems to mineral wealth that once again awakens human greed.
Yet the locals’ myth is prophetic. Greed will not be forgiven. If we do not cleanse the “hair of the Mother,” if we do not respect the balance of nature, the trap we have set will close in on all of us.
I share with you a few photographs from my personal archive, from a time when these landscapes seemed eternal—before they began to change forever.
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